Immigrants at Uber

Our mission

Our mission is to help build a more inclusive Uber by providing a welcoming forum for new immigrants and to promote cross-cultural learnings.

VIsa/immigration advocacy

Providing support, advocacy, and a safe place for employee immigrants with needs and anxieties associated with living and working under a visa. Supporting the immersion of recent immigrants.

Professional development

Developing talent and providing career guidance for professional success through mentoring roundtables, public speaking and communication skills-building, and career development fireside chats with Uber leadership.

Culture and community

Creating and fostering happiness and inclusiveness at Uber with global cultural and community events to increase and enhance cross-cultural learning and understanding.

Partnership

Collaborating with other Uber ERGs and community nonprofits to foster partnerships and create impact within the broader community.

Featured members

Shobhana Ahluwalia

Senior Director Technology Services

I immigrated to America 2 decades ago. I have been through all the processes that an immigrant goes through—H-1B, H-1B extension, green card, citizenship, and US passport process. I am happy to be a sounding board for others going through the same process. I am proud to work alongside amazingly talented people at Uber, where we are changing the world one family and one car at a time. Every day here is special and challenging in different ways.

Shreyas Kumar

Senior Security Engineer II

After a 16-year wait in various stages of immigration, I learned a lot and decided to give back to the immigrant community. My proudest moment at Uber was being a top employee driver of 2016 and making product improvement suggestions. I get to solve interesting global security problems—this is the most exciting aspect of my work at Uber. I also teach at SJSU, where I was awarded 2019 Best Practices in Teaching Award for Diversity Equity and Inclusion.

Yicheng Qin

Senior Software Engineer

Rejected in the H-1B lottery 3 times in a row, I converted to work in H-4 visa finally and would like to help other immigrants go through these problems. My proudest moment at Uber was the time the team launched a new-generation user authentication system. The goal of making Uber user accounts more secure makes me excited to come to work each day.

Angie Volz

Cross Border Compliance Manager

I’m a longtime ally of and advocate for immigrants and refugees in the SF Bay Area and beyond. Having been an immigrant myself in several countries, I can relate with the challenges, anxieties, and emotions involved in relocating across borders. My professional career is focused in the field of immigration, which has fueled my support and solidarity with immigrants and the diverse communities in which we live.

Semih Coban

Outreach Innovation Specialist

I moved to the United States from Turkey about a decade ago. Moving to a new country poses a lot of challenges, whatever your background is, and I’ve definitely experienced those challenges throughout the years and am happy to share my knowledge with the newcomers. It’s amazing to see how much the cross-cultural learnings have increased within the past 6 months since we launched our chapter in LA.

Thuan Pham

Executive sponsor, Chief Technology Officer

"As a refugee and first-generation immigrant, I am deeply aware of the challenges facing the immigrant community as well as the endless possibilities for us to contribute and make a positive impact on our society. I am humbled and proud to be part of the Immigrants at Uber ERG, as we try our very best to support and advocate for our immigrant colleagues as well as the immigrant community here and around the world."

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Accomplishments

Public speaking communities

Immigrants at Uber started 2 Toastmasters clubs at Uber, with active membership forming in Palo Alto and San Francisco. Toastmasters provides robust support for speaking, communication, and leadership skills for participants.

Global mentorship

The Immigrants at Uber ERG hosts quarterly Mentoring over Lunch events. We invite Executive Mentors hosting roundtable chats with mentees. This was a globally distributed event, with sessions held in India, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia and in the US.

Legal insight sessions

Immigrants at Uber hosts regular Visa with Chai Samosa sessions. We invite lawyers from Uber’s legal partnership and experts from Uber’s immigration team to provide updates and Q&A for members. This builds the bridge for Uber employees to address their concerns and questions.

Intersectional partnerships

We also focus on the greater good at Uber outside our core membership. On Veterans Day 2018, our ERG did a project to honor all Uber veteran employees by helping to fly a US flag in each employee’s honor at the US Capitol. The flags were presented to the employees.